The present invention relates generally to the molding of articles from fibrous material, and more particularly to a method of molding articles from a mixture of fibrous matter and binding material, and to an apparatus for carrying out the method.
There are many instances where decorative moldings for application to furniture, or coffins, articles for technical use, and the like, are produced by molding these articles from comminuted fibrous material which is admixed with an appropriate binder. If these articles have projecting edges, as is frequently the case especially in decorative objects provided with depressions and projections to form a pattern, it is very often observed that at the edges of the projections the surface of the object is not smooth but porous. The cause of this is that during the press molding relative displacement of material takes place in these regions during the movement of the mold members, resulting in a lack of homogeneity of the material in these regions. This is caused by the fact that the material available for forming a clearly defined non-porous edge is displaced during such movement and that there is therefore right at the critical line where the edge is to be formed, not sufficient material present for a requisite molding pressure to develop. This means that a closed non-porous surface with a sharp edge is often impossible to obtain in the molding of such objects.